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The Housing Chapter is required by the Metropolitan Land Planning Act. Regional government is interested in affordability in housing and making certain that communities in the Metro area provide such housing. New Brighton’s housing stock is aging. The population gain was largely in the 1960's. Ensuring the quality of housing in New Brighton is the focus of the Housing section of the Plan. Maintaining the existing housing stock would include the apartment stock. Most of the apartment units were built in the late ‘60's and early ‘70's. Because these buildings are older, the units can be considered affordable housing stock. The quality of the apartment buildings must be maintained. In summary, New Brighton has a life cycle housing chain. First, New Brighton has smaller, single family homes and apartments. Next are the larger, single family homes. Finally, New Brighton has apartment and townhouse units for the retirement years. New Brighton lacks upper-end apartment units. New Brighton needs to focus on in-fill development to provide the housing types the City lacks. The City center area is a place for such redevelopment. Parks and Recreation System Plan - Appendix A An overview of the Parks and Recreation System is included in the Comprehensive Plan. One chapter talks about the available land and how the needs of the community are being met. According to the National Park and Recreation standards, the City of New Brighton has enough park land to meet the standard for its population. Demographics are changing. New Brighton is changing from a community of young people to a mature community. In view of the demographic changes, changes in the use of park facilities is possible. More trails and adult recreation activities will be needed in the future. The parks are becoming a neighborhood focus as a gathering place. Transportation Plan - 8.1–8.15 Because New Brighton is part of a region, New Brighton relies on regional roadways. Future projections show that I-694 and I-35W will be over capacity. The Met Council is encouraging mixed use, high density areas to concentrate development within the Met area, rather than creating urban sprawl to outlying communities. Redevelopment will put extra stress on the existing roadways. The local roadway system must also be taken into account. Creating other connections over the freeways could alleviate the problem. Traffic that is not going to enter the freeway system could cross the freeways without using the freeway. New Brighton can encourage flexible work schedules, car pooling and van pooling, walkways and bike trails to reduce peak period congestion. The section on transportation system management outlines physical improvements to the roadways. Traffic calming is discussed in this section of the Plan. Traffic calming is a way to reduce the number and severity of accidents by altering the character or the physical design of the roadway to slow traffic. A series of strategies is listed in that section. Community Facilities - 9.1–9.40 This section deals with the sanity sewer system and the water supply system. The section was developed by the City Engineer and the City’s engineering consultant, Barr Engineering. New Brighton is 50 percent under capacity. Redevelopment of the Northwest Quadrant will add capacity; however, New Brighton will still be within the required limits. Surface Water Management Plan - Appendix B I:\COMMISSIONS\PLANNING\MINUTES\1999\08-17-99.WPD 3